TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Jeff Gibson, Interim Community Development Director
Laurie Jester, Planning Manager
Rafael Garcia, Assistant Planner
SUBJECT:Title
Consider a Resolution Adopting the Third Addendum to the Environmental Impact Report and Modifying Conditions of Approval in the Manhattan Village Shopping Center’s Master Use Permit to Allow: (1) Fitness Studios and (2) Ancillary Off-Site Alcohol Sales for up to Four Restaurants (1180-1200 Rosecrans Avenue and 2600-2600 Sepulveda Boulevard) (Interim Community Development Director Gibson).
a) CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARING
b) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 19-0120
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 19-0120 adopting the Third Addendum to the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and an Amendment to the Master Use Permit (MUP) to allow fitness studios and ancillary off-site alcohol sale for up to four restaurants.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
No fiscal implications associated with the recommended action.
BACKGROUND:
On February 19, 2019, JLL on behalf of RREEF America REIT Corp BBB II, submitted an application to amend two conditions of approval imposed by the City Council in December 2014 in connection with the remodeling and expansion of the Manhattan Village Shopping Center to allow fitness studios and ancillary off-site alcohol sales for up to four restaurants. On October 9, 2019, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the application.
On October 24, 2019, the owner of the property located at 3500 Sepulveda (where, among other uses, the Tin Roof Bistro is located) submitted the attached appeal. The Appellant is concerned that he cannot avail himself of the entitlements conferred by the Commission. As noted in the appeal letter, staff, the Planning Commission and the Assistant City Attorney reassured Appellant that he will be able to have fitness studios and ancillary off-site alcohol sales subject to the limitations approved by the Commission: a 25,000 square foot maximum for fitness studios in the entire Mall, including his property; and only four restaurants will be allowed to enjoy the privilege of selling alcohol for off-site consumption, as an ancillary use to the restaurant. For example, if the Tin Roof Bistro is one of the first four restaurants to apply and it complies with City and ABC requirements, the Community Development Director can grant the permit and it will be allowed to sell alcohol to diners who want to purchase alcohol after eating or in connection with a special event, such as “A Dinner with the Winemaker.” Further, in October, the City Attorney confirmed, in writing, that the entitlements are available to 3500 Sepulveda, and on November 22, 2019, offered to make some clerical changes to the Commission resolution. However, the City Attorney has not received a response from the Appellant to the November 22 offer.
The shopping center is currently undergoing a major redevelopment and expansion. According to Mall representatives, there is a strong market demand to incorporate smaller fitness studios to complement the new lineup of tenants that are proposed as part of the comprehensive redevelopment of the shopping center. Allowing up to four restaurants to be permitted to sell alcohol for off-site consumption to diners as an ancillary use to the dining experience also adds to the viability of the Mall.
The proposed changes are consistent with the overall intent of the initial Master Use Permit which was originally approved by the attached Resolution No. 14-0026 in December 2014.
DISCUSSION:
Background/Approvals
The Manhattan Village Shopping Center is approximately 44 acres in size and was originally approved and constructed in 1979. The uses on the subject site consist of commercial, retail, restaurants, services, and offices. On December 2, 2014, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 14-0026 approving an amendment to the existing Master Use Permit, a height variance, and amendment to the Master Sign program and sign exceptions for the Manhattan Village expansion project. At the same meeting in December, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 14-0025 certifying the EIR for the project.
The existing Shopping Center contains approximately 572,837 square feet gross leasable area (GLA). Pursuant to the 2014 approval, the Project may add a maximum of 79,872 net-new square feet GLA for a total of 652,709 square feet (89,589 square feet for a total of 662,426 square feet with the “Equivalency Program”). The expansion project is currently under construction and the applicant is now seeking approval to make modifications to two Conditions of Approval that were approved as part of the project in December 2014.
Fitness Studios
The applicant is requesting to amend Condition of Approval No. 18 to allow fitness studios with up to 25,000 square feet of GLA. Condition No. 18 prohibits “personal Improvement Services” at the Mall. In general, the broader category of “Personal Improvement Services” are uses that involve instructional services or facilities, including photography, fine arts, crafts, dance or music studios, driving schools, business and trade schools, and diet centers, reducing salons, fitness studios, and massage. The proposed request will allow the Personal improvement sub-category of fitness studios up to 5,000 square feet in area while continuing to prohibit all other uses deemed as personal improvement services. The project is not allowing any additional square footage as part of the overall project, but simply allowing up to 25,000 square feet to be allocated for the purposes of personal improvement services limited to fitness studios. As noted in the addendum, allowing fitness studios will not have any environmental impacts not already identified in the 2014 EIR. This is true even if a studio or studios are located at 3500 Sepulveda, provided the maximum cumulative square footage does not exceed 25,000 square feet for the entire Mall, including the 3500 Sepulveda portion of the Mall.
Off-site Alcohol Sales for Restaurants
The ownership is also requesting the ability to have four additional ancillary off-site alcohol licenses in conjunction with restaurants. Condition of Approval No. 20 currently prohibits all off-site alcohol licenses except for businesses established prior to the 2014 approval (i.e. Ralphs, CVS, and the Vintage Shoppe). RREEF has received interest from prospective restaurant tenants and they have requested the ability to have limited off-site sale alcohol licenses for the sale of alcohol for off-site consumption. RREEF has indicated that this ancillary use is in line with recent industry trends for upscale restaurants and is simply trying to offer an amenity to prospective restaurant tenants since it is in demand. As noted in the addendum, allowing four restaurants to sell alcohol for off-site consumption will not have any environmental impacts not already identified in the 2014 EIR. This is true even if one of the restaurants able to procure approval of off-site sale of alcohol is located at 3500 Sepulveda, provided the maximum number of restaurants that will sell alcohol does not exceed four restaurants for the entire Mall, including the 3500 Sepulveda portion of the Mall.
Summary
There is no increase in the overall square footage of the project and the request will continue to conform to the square footage limitations contained in Condition No. 18. The request will allow up to 25,000 square feet to be allocated as personal improvement services limited to fitness studios, but the project will still be required to continue to remain within its square footage limitations as approved as part of the 2014 approval. The project currently provides a total of approximately 2,685 spaces within the three parking garages and surface parking lots across the Project Site, resulting in sufficient spaces to comply with the required parking.
The Building Safety Division, City Traffic Engineer, and Public Works Engineering Division do not oppose approval of the request provided that the Applicant adheres to all current Building Codes, and the Manhattan Beach Municipal Code, all which will be addressed in plan check, as well as the proposed conditions of approval. There were no conditions or opposition from the Police Department.
Section 10.84.060(A) of the Manhattan Beach Zoning Code provides the findings that are necessary to approve a Use Permit Amendment, as detailed in the draft attached Resolution No. 19-0120. In 2014, there was substantial evidence to support the findings, and the amendments to the conditions of approval do not in any way adversely affect or alter the findings made at that time.
CONCLUSION:
Based on staff’s review, the proposed modifications to the Conditions of Approval will not impact nearby neighborhoods or adjoining residential or commercial properties. Staff believes that the proposed amendments will be in accord with the purpose of the Community Commercial (CC) zoning standards and enhance the viability and diversity of businesses within the Manhattan Village Shopping Center.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
A public hearing notice was published on the Beach Reporter on December 5, 2019, and was sent to all property owners within 500 feet of the project site. No public comments have been received by staff.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
When approving the Project in December 2014, the City certified an Environmental Impact Report prepared by an independent environmental consultant, Eyestone Environmental. Thereafter, two EIR addenda were prepared as part of two separate Master Use Permit amendments. The first EIR addendum was prepared as part of modified site plan that was endorsed by the City Council in December 2016. A second addendum was prepared in June 2017 as part of an amendment to the approval to refine specific conditions of approval that were approved by City Council in September 2017. The EIR and both of these addenda are now final and beyond challenge.
As part of this Master Use Permit Amendment, the City engaged Eyestone Environmental to review the proposal and assess its potential environmental effects. Eyestone Environmental prepared the third Addendum to the EIR and reached the same conclusion as with the previous projects (attached). Specifically, none of the conditions in CEQA which would require a subsequent or supplemental EIR are present because the proposed condition refinements do not contain any substantial changes that would require revisions to the EIR. The City Traffic Engineer reviewed the traffic and parking analysis prepared as part of the Addendum and agrees the conclusion that the project as conditioned is within the scope of the original EIR. All of the mitigation measures required by the Mitigation Monitoring Program for the Project will continue to apply and will be implemented.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 19-0120
2. Planning Commission Agenda Items and Minutes (October 9, 2019)
3. Vicinity Map
4. Applicant’s Application
5. Appellant’s Appeal Application
6. City Council Resolution No. 14-0026 (December 2014)
7. Third Addendum - Environmental Impact Report (October 2019)